Intimacy of the Table

Tuesday, February 21

Some of the fondest most beautiful memories in my life commenced around a wooden table. I truly do think meals are spiritual.

They are a time to just BE with someone. A time that life seems to stop in busyness, and we can look at each other, and call out beauty or lament deep pain. We have time to listen, to offer our ear. Or we have time to talk, to share and tell stories.

Growing up mom NEVER let us miss a meal together. Four messy crazy kids and two parents, who really, never missed a meal around the table. I thank God that my mom was so insistent with that fact. I didn't understand it at the time, but now I do. Mom was allowing laughter and joy and song and giggles to seep and saturate the far reaches of our memory. Yes, the table brings sacred memories of growing up.

{the sibbies came to visit me, and we got Kev's sibs over as well. We were only missing Pete and Kristi!}

In college, my 5 roommates and I sat down to a "family" dinner at least 3 times a week. Memories of us Fountain Circle Girls are truly EPIC. We had theme dinners (dressing up in togas and eating on the floor, or picking German names and eating brats and sauerkraut while listening to polka music). We even threw a pirate dinner for one roomie's birthday and took every piece of gold jewelery and hung it around our home- we were cool. But it all happened around the table. And I will forever belly laugh when I think of those memories.

And now, as a wife, Kevin and I find deep comfort in sitting side by side eating and exchanging love through attention. Eyes focused solely on one another, ready to give our hearts as we share a sacred meal.

{you have NO idea how incredible this moment was. we were sweltering in Indonesian humidity, and I seriously thought I would melt like a popsicle! Sitting down and sharing this iced coffee thing together bonded us, no joke! we still talk about the healing powers of this blended drink....}

Sitting with our neighbors, we feel like family. Even though we come from different places and have different customs, traditions, and languages, sharing dinner makes us family. I don't know what it is about food, but God uses it to break down barriers. And at the end of the night, we laugh and feel connected.

{waffles on a saturday morning with our downstairs neighbors...Miguel made us laugh...a lot}

Henri Nouwen writes...

"The table is one of the most intimate places in our lives. It is there that we give ourselves to one another. When we say, "Take some more, let me serve you another plate, let me pour you another glass, don't be shy, enjoy it," we say a lot more than our words express. We invite our friends to become part of our lives. We want them to be nurtured by the same food and drink that nurture us. We desire communion. That is why a refusal to eat and drink what a host offers is so offensive. It feels like a rejection of an invitation to intimacy.

Strange as it may sound, the table is the place where we want to become food for one another. Every breakfast, lunch, or dinner can become a time of growing communion with one another."

{at our family reunion in Sweden, some of our cousins managed to steal us away and make us home made waffles, with fresh whip cream and strawberries. I think everything tastes better when it's "swedish" But hands down, Kev and I still talk about this memory over waffles}

My prayer is that we will all place important on sharing meals with one another. If there is someone you want to get to know, invite them to dinner, or breakfast, or lunch! And pray that God will allow that time for you to grow in communion together:)

YES! Love this post. Love every post from you. I grew up the same and Cam and I view meals together as sacred too - time to pray and thank God together, eat nummy food, talk, look into each other's eyes with attention. Amen, amen, amen. Love you friend.